Killing Time
Directed By: Josh Ornelas
Written By: Jason Weight
Written By: Jason Weight
With Genkins trapping most of the Reds and Blues in a single time period, they must make a desperate alliance with Chrovos to stop him.
- Note: This episode marks the first time in the series that a character model from Halo: Combat Evolved was custom animated using CGI.
This episode has examples of:
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: When the Reds and Blues look into the events of The Blood Gulch Chronicles (made in the first Halo game's engine), Caboose insults the outdated graphics.
- Call-Back: The shot of Genkins-in-Alpha-Church being pinned to the canyon wall of Blood Gulch by the golf club looks more than a little similar to the shot of Biff of the Blues and Reds being pinned to the side of Red Base by the Blue Team Flag in Season 15's "Blue vs. Red - Part 2".
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Remember when Caboose asked for and received Genkins' golf club back in the previous season? It turns out that it was the tool originally used to seal Chrovos, and is the only thing that can truly hurt Chrovos and the Cosmic Powers. The Reds and Blues use it against Genkins while he's tripping on Chrovos' power.
- Specific to this episode, Grif pulls a prank on Simmons by having him fail to run through one of the Time Guns' Donut Holes again, to which Simmons responds by successfully shooting at Grif through the Donut Hole. As Simmons himself later points out to Wash and Donut, this means that while people can't go through the Donut Holes, objects can.
- Do I Really Sound Like That?: Sarge is audibly dejected upon hearing how corny and weird his one-liners actually sound when they're being said by the Season 15 iteration of himself.
- Drunk on the Dark Side: After going back to the events of Church's first death in Season 1's "Don't Ph34r The Reaper", Genkins is still tripping over Chrovos' power and quickly delves into Evil Is Hammy over his impending victory through creating new paradoxes.
- Enemy Mine: Considering how Genkins had just told Chrovos that he was planning on consuming her later on after devouring the Reds and Blues, she quickly decides to team up with the former simulation troopers to save her own hide.
- "Eureka!" Moment: The Reds and Blues realize they can no longer Mental Time Travel or use their Time Guns to time travel anymore due to Genkins trapping them in their current time period. But, while observing Genkins through the time portal, Simmons recalls how he was able to shoot at Grif through the portal they made earlier, meaning that even though they can't go through the portals, objects they have can.
- Everyone Has Standards: Virtually all of the Reds and Blues (barring Sarge, Tucker, and Caboose) are grossed out by Genkins-in-Alpha-Church screaming and flailing in agony after being impaled by the golf club.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: Chrovos joins the Reds and Blues less out of the goodness of her heart but more because she has just as much to lose as they do if Genkins wins.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: After guiltily admitting that her children locked her up for legitimate reasons and confessing that at least part of why she wanted freedom is because she wanted to reconcile with the Cosmic Powers, Chrovos immediately goes on an unhinged rant about how she would've "torn the starry curtain from its rings" after getting free. Donut even lampshades it, sarcastically praising her for having totally performed a Heel–Face Turn and that he should've never doubted her in the first place.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: After being shot with the golf club by Sheila, this is what happens to Genkins.
- In Love with Your Carnage: Kaikaina gets very turned on by the spectacle of Locus kneecapping the Blue and Red Zealots.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Played for Laughs with Chrovos; after she sheepishly admits that she does want to reconcile with her children, she then immediately rants about how she would've bloodily conquered the universe anyhow for the sake of stress relief along with making her own kids cower in fear of her, highlighting how she's seriously too dangerous and malevolent to be allowed to escape, even if Genkins is ultimately the greater evil currently.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: Genkins doesn't have enough time to finish saying "Son of a bitch!" before he gets impaled. Subverted in that he himself technically survives this, though Alpha-Church's host body of Private Jimmy (who Genkins was trying to keep alive to cause a Temporal Paradox) most certainly doesn't.
- Loophole Abuse: Due to Genkins locking the "present day" Reds and Blues in their trip back to the events of the season finale of The Shisno Paradox, they can't use Mental Time Travel anymore and the Time Guns won't allow them to transport themselves either. However, as they quickly realize, since sound, light, and objects all aren't people, they can still use the Time Guns to create impromptu video calls for strategizing and later on even use it to plant the golf club in Shiela's turret to take out Genkins during the events of Church's first death.
- Mythology Gag: The Season 15 iteration of Donut paraphrases his Image Song "Donut: The Musical" as part of a Badass Boast — "I'm gonna blow you... away!"
- Not Helping Your Case: As Donut lampshades, Chrovos isn't exactly inspiring confidence in her proposal for an Enemy Mine with the Reds and Blues after she immediately followed up a guilty admission of her past deeds with an Omnicidal Maniac rant.
- Running Gag: Genkins almost repeats the "Son of a bitch!" Share Phrase before he's Killed Mid-Sentence by the golf club.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Both Tucker and Kaikaina approve of Chrovos' statement "I don't go to parties, dear, they come to me!"
- This Is Gonna Suck: Genkins only has enough time to mutter "Son of a bi-!" upon spotting the golf club in Sheila's turret before he gets impaled through the midsection.
- Wham Shot: The episode ends with the Reds and Blues (barring Donut and Doc) all trapped in the Labyrinth, each floating off into an abyss on glowing platforms.
- Why Didn't I Think of That?: When everyone is panicking and trying to think of a way to stop Genkins, Simmons suddenly reminds everyone that he shot at Grif through the portal earlier. Sarge then states, "Of course! We shoot Grif, why didn't I think of that?" before Simmons explains his actual resoning.
